Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus, an image processing method and a storage medium.
Description of the Related Art
In imaging diagnosis using a medical image (for example, a three-dimensional tomographic image representing information about the inside of an object), a doctor performs diagnosis while comparing images captured by a plurality of imaging apparatuses (modalities) in a plurality of body postures at different time with imaging parameters, and the like. Since, however, postures and shapes of an object differ between images, identification of a lesion region and comparison are difficult. Thus, alignment between a plurality of images is attempted. Conversion and deformation of the posture can be performed on one image to generate an image coincident with the other image. As a result, the doctor can readily perform identification of a lesion region and comparison between a plurality of images. Even in a field other than the medical field, in order to inspect the internal state of an object, a similar operation may be performed.
As a method of performing alignment between a plurality of images, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2011-142974 discloses a method using manually provided corresponding point information between images. Also, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2011-142974 discloses a technique of evaluating the quality of an alignment result based on the similarity between aligned images, and presenting a message to prompt correction according to the evaluation result.
In the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2011-142974, however, even if the quality of the alignment result is poor, the reason for this is uncertain. Consequently, the user cannot determine how to improve the alignment result, resulting in difficulty in improving the alignment accuracy.